On mass killings: we're in a patch where people are trying to kill as many people as possible,
very frequently in very many places, in the name of many different
ideologies, or because of many different pathologies: for any reason or
none. the question begins to occur, whether people are engaging in mass
killings because of their beliefs, or whether they're cultivating
beliefs in order to justify engaging in slaughter. the pattern of
behavior is similar, whether it's islamist radicalism, white
suprematism, a disgruntled employee, a fundamentalist christian going
after planned parenthood, a bullied student, a schizophrenic, or
whatever it may be. perhaps people look for a way in, something to
justify their radical break with the species. or at least, the causation
- the interaction between beliefs or illnesses and actions - might be
complicated, for while the motivations or causes for the killings are
various, the patterns of behavior are relatively repetitive, stylized,
salient. it is the act of mass killing and the technologies that make it
possible or articulate its forms, rather than the reasons or psychology
of the killers, that is characteristic of our time.

The Great Republican Revolt: A majority of Republicans worry that corporations and the wealthy exert
too much power. Their party leaders work to ensure that these same
groups can exert even more. Mainstream Republicans were quite at ease
with tax increases on households earning more than $250,000 in the
aftermath of the Great Recession and the subsequent stimulus. Their
congressional representatives had the opposite priorities.

What a bunch of whack jobs! That's nothing like how the Democratic Party treats it's rank and file.

The problem with Hillary Clinton: A lot of people don’t like Hillary. Some on the left even hate her. For a few, it may be because she is a woman. For most it has much more to do with policy. Pretending that people are unreasoning to hate a politician who voted
for a war which was a war crime is good spin, but it’s not honest. Hillary Clinton voted for war with Iraq. She defended that vote for years though she now says it was a mistake. Hillary Clinton defended the “Welfare Reform” put in place by her husband. Hillary Clinton was for the Patriot Act. Hillary Clinton voted for TARP. On the policies, she is either monstrous or has terrible judgment. She
is, at best, a “Lesser Evil” candidate. It is not deranged for people
to dislike her or even hate her, she has been for policies which
impoverished millions and killed millions. If that isn’t reason to hate
someone, I don’t know what is.

The Don -- a don -- a Clinton operative? Not only not absurd, but not to be ruled out, except for one little detail: it hardly seems necessary. Still. There are so many things we don't need in this world, of which, thank blog, this ain't one::

Can you honestly tell me that you forgot the magnetism of Robin Zander or the charisma of Rick Nielsen? Kid stuff? How 'bout the tunes? I want *you* to want me; the dream police, da-na-na-na-na-na; your mama's all right, your daddy's all right, they just seem a little bit weird. Surrender, surrender, but don't give yourself away...